Football, the real one, called soccer by those in USA, is the only sport I watch with my critical condition. Spain and England are me favorite countries to watch.
Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United and other teams from these British isles attract the hell out of me. I reiterate that since me early days the former empire
created some fascination that remains and I will not/can not explain. It is a variety of climates, vegetation, geography and topography mostly, not necessarily people as many may have gathered.
Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia were always on my mind. They should make me an honorary citizen and send me a passport to spend a week each in those places.
Spain on the other hand made a similar impression but the mentioned interests are less wide. Canary and Balearic islands mostly, particularly Lanzarote, in part, thanks to Cesar Manrique Cabrera and his unique
landscape and building designs, besides the ancient agricultural, gardening trends in the Peninsula.
Now to the tittle. After the world cup. The urge to watch football has kept my interest mostly in Barsa, but I watch other teams with creativity. This sport is one of a few in which the talent of the group,
has to be followed by individual creativity and unselfishness to create and attempt to score.
Leo Messi, Ronaldo Cristiano, Eto, and the whopping crane looking fellow in Tottenham, Crouch are among my favorites. There are others, but I do not want to bore you. Football is perhaps the only sport that scoring or the attempt are equally beautiful, thanks to the need to be creative. Leo Messi's movements, often remind one of ballet. The grace and difficulty from such a small and fragile gentleman make every goal a memorable moment. Rubin Kazan, the strangest name for a football team, don't you think?
Football is played on turf. I HATE turf, but there is no option. As a perfectionist I can tell when the soil is compacted, the grass too long or too short, when is cut by trimmer, dull or unbalanced blades.
When tons of nutrients: phosphate, nitrogen are used to keep it lush, pretty much as in a golf course. But one should wonder if sport fields could be organic. I know it could be push mowed by many people creating tons of jobs, but would it be practical? Also the compaction issue, could it be aerified without a gas/oil machine?
If the subject interests you, here it goes.
The worst football fields are all in America, Central and South. They look like shit. I have seen one in Mexico, mowed in circles, with a 3 feet lawn mower, ridiculous, absurd and you can notice the wheel tracks on top of the ugly pattern on the burned, stressed, yellowish turf.
In the past turf was just mowed, now it has to have some unnecessary pattern, created in different ways, that some people like.
It is time to go, Barsa should win. But the essence of turf management is not forgotten. Check this out if you get a chance, and enjoy this game and the others.
CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF ATHLETIC FIELDS
EUROPE VS USA
http://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/mitgc/article/1985165.pdf
very interesting article on the design of sportsfields. i love soccer, i just don't have time to watch the games.
ReplyDeleteregarding the turf, i guess that geotextiles and artificial turf would be the way to go, combined with stormwater harvesting.
and it seems the LEED people think similarly:
http://www.syntheticgrasswarehouse.com/blog/2010/05/05/synthetic-grass-and-the-leed-point-program/
http://athleticfacilitydesign.com/v3i7/11.htm
Unless we find that grass species that does not require trimming and compacts well...
A wise comment. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSome people have tried the alternatives you mention, but it seems athletes are not comfortable.
Running constantly with abrupt change of directions is part of the problem, therefore,
it goes beyond what interest us.
Good health, getting hurt, money and winning is another aspect of issue.
I think your lack of time is pertinent. I imagine many people will not watch baseball/basketball for similar reasons and the advertisements.
In both cases is an average of 3 hours of boredom, versus 95 minutes of action, often interesting.
Just thought that GOLF could also benefit from these proposals. Imagine no trimming, fungicides, herbicides,
ReplyDeleteand else...